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Ethnobotany

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"At university we were taught not to underestimate the botanical knowledge of the general public. The rediscovery of Ephedra distachya was cited as an example. ... Shortly before World War II it was discovered growing on sand dunes in southern Slovakia. During the war Slovakia separated from what was left of Czechoslovakia, and the man who had published the article about this find died in a concentration camp. After the war a group of university botanists from Prague went to check the locality. They wandered around looking for what was described as 'sand dunes near Chenek's Sawmill' and lost their way. Finally they met a man on a bicycle, obviously a worker from a nearby gravel pit. The Prague scientists flagged him down and asked for directions to Chenek's Sawmill. The man looked at them and said: "Are you looking for Ephedra distachya?" It was he who had first noticed the strange shrub and brought it to the attention of his school teacher, who in turn had contacted professional botanists" (Martin 2003).